Candidate's essay prompts accusation of anti-Semitism
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By DAVE GRAM The Associated Press - Published: October 31, 2008
MONTPELIER — An independent candidate for Vermont governor is being criticized as anti-Semitic for writing — in an essay for a state-published election guide — that "some Jews allegedly discriminate against disabled Vermonters."
Cris Ericson of Chester, who is running both for governor and for Vermont's seat in the U.S. House, made the comments for her entry in the Vermont Statewide Candidate Information Publication, a 40-page booklet being distributed this week by the Vermont secretary of state's office.
The booklet provides biographical information and issue positions of candidates for statewide office.
About 20,000 copies of it are being sent to town offices, to be made available to voters. About 73,700 copies are being distributed by four Vermont newspapers — The Burlington Free Press, The Newport Daily Express, The Rutland Herald and The Barre Montpelier Times Argus — as an insert.
"Some Jewish Doctors, Social Workers, Police and Housing Authority Administrators allegedly 'talk down' to Disabled People even though the Disabled Person may not have a mental disability, and may have cancer, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, or other permanent disease," Ericson wrote in her entry describing her candidacy for governor.
In a telephone interview, she complained of being excluded from debates. "Are any of the people, in charge of organizations holding candidate forums and debates, Jewish?" she wrote in the essay.
Ericson, an artist and musician, wouldn't say whether she had a disability that might cause her — under her theory — to be excluded from debates.
"I'm not going to answer a question like that," she said.
Asked about concerns that her remarks were anti-Semitic, Ericson said that while she was raised as a Christian Protestant, she had had a DNA test and learned that she had Jewish ancestry. "I feel that I have a right to scold my own kind," she said.
Her essay was labeled "outrageous" by Secretary of State Deb Markowitz, who is Jewish.
Before publishing the booklet, Markowitz sought an opinion from state Attorney General William Sorrell about whether the booklet could be edited and the comments removed.
In an Oct. 14 legal opinion, Assistant Attorney General Michael McShane said the free speech and press rights provisions of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution — and the law under which the Legislature authorized the secretary of state to publish the booklet — barred Markowitz from editing the material.
"We understand that the First Amendment and a lack of legislative standards is likely to result in the publication of material that is clearly offensive to many and perhaps to the great majority of citizens," McShane wrote. "However, the government's ability to regulate the content of political speech is severely limited."
Markowitz reluctantly agreed that she was required to publish the comments.
"I trust that when voters read the publication, they will take it for what it's worth, which is obviously an irrational charge from a candidate," she said.
Janet Dermody, deputy director of the Vermont Center for Independent Living, which advocates for people with disabilities, said she was disturbed by the sentiments Ericson expressed.
She said some people do show prejudice against disabled citizens, but, "It has nothing to do with their religion. It has nothing to do with their color or their country of origin.
"Disability strikes every group, and in every group we find people who can't do the right thing by people with disabilities because they don't know how," Dermody said. "But that's everybody. There's no special corner on that market."
Ericson included in her essay a passage from Chapter 21 of Leviticus, a book in the Old Testament of the Bible, which appears to bar people with disabilities — the list includes "he who is blind or lame, or who has any disfigurement or malformation" — from participating in religious services.
"Jews have no right to impose their religious Law of discrimination against Disabled People when they receive state or federal funding for Police, Housing Authority, Medicaid, Medicare, and organizations holding candidate debates and forums," Ericson wrote.
But Rabbi Joshua Chasan, of Burlington's Ohavi Zedek Synagogue, said that teaching from Leviticus — along with many others from ancient Hebrew Scripture — had been discarded long ago. Jewish doctrine of recent centuries "doesn't involve animal sacrifices, which are at the core of the religion of ancient Israel," the rabbi said.
As for the disabled, or members of any other minority group, Chasan said Jewish teaching is "affirming of all people, each of whom is created in the image of God," and emphasizes "the equality and uniqueness of every human being."
He took issue with the state's decision to publish Ericson's essay.
"I think that this statement is beyond the pale of community standards of speech," he said. "I think she has a right to say this, but I think the government of the state of Vermont has the responsibility to edit it out. Are they going to publish the campaign platforms of Nazis?"
But he also said such comments should be exposed so people can see anti-Semitism still exists.
"One may think that a single statement from a candidate who is not going to get very many votes is harmless," Chasan said. "It is a mistake to ignore this kind of language. Like a physical virus, anti-Semitism grows quietly and malignantly beneath, without our ability to track it."
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